


Seasonal

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Canon Era, M/M, blood mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: David experiences the myriad joys of seasonal allergies.





	Seasonal

At first David just thought he had a runny nose, which wouldn’t have been strange at all, considering his nose had been running constantly as of late, just as it did every spring. He sniffled, and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. Upon finishing and noticing the the blotch of red on the pale fabric, David let out his breath in an annoyed huff.

It wasn’t that nose bleeds were unusual, not any more so than sneezing and watery eyes. It was just that Jack would laugh at him, and yes, he’d do it affectionately, and yes, he throw an arm over his shoulder or ruffle his hair as he did it, and probably David would get that feeling in the pit of his stomach that he always got when Jack touched him, but it was still annoying, so David stomped onwards, cursing spring, and cursing the cold snap that had left the air crisp and dry without killing off anywhere near enough of the flowers and plants that plagued him.

David shifted the weight of the eighty some odd papers he was carrying, and alternated between pinching his nose to try and stop the bleeding, and angling his head to try and keep anything from flowing out. What he really needed to do was stop for a minute or two but… He didn’t want to. He flat out didn’t want to, and that was all there was to it. There would be a million or so minute or twos between now and June, and if he stopped for all of them then he’d never get anything sold.

“Hey Dave…”

“I’m fine. It’s normal,” David said before Jack could ask if he was alright. Jack grinned.

“I figured as much,” he said.

“What’s that even supposed to mean?” David grumbled back.

“Nothin’. Your ‘normal’ don’t seem so great lately.”

“I’m used to it. It’ll stop in a minute…”

“Great!” Jack answered brightly. David made a face at him, which Jack mirrored right back at him before grabbing his papers. “You’re bleeding on the merchandise.”

“It’s not as though I’m trying to. It’s not a goal of mine. It’s just…”

“Nah, I know. It ain’t a problem anyhow. Bet we can sell extra papes if I tell them some big guy punched you in the nose, or maybe that you have some kinda bleeding disease, like where you can’t stop.”

“Somebody punched him in in the nose and he has a bleeding disease!” Les piped up, practically skipping with excitement with the thought of a bleeding disease.

“Right,” Jack said, “ Now you’re on to something. Les, show Dave how to look like he’s bleeding to death.

 

Les grimaced and pressed his head to his forehead, stumbling back a couple of steps in what was a fairly convincing swoon. Jack caught Les and ruffled his hair, just as David had been hoping Jack wouldn’t do with him, and David caught himself scowling.

"That’s not it at all,” Jack said, peering at David’s face. “And wipe your nose. You look like hell. Or on second thought, don’t. That’s what we’re going for, ain’t it?”

“I wouldn’t say…” David started, but at that moment Jack wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close against him like he always did, and for a split second David forgot to protest.

Of course he followed up that split second with quite a lot of protests - protests, lectures, and flat out refusals to pretend to be sick when he wasn’t, even if allergies certainly made him feel like he was. At the end of the day, though, the fact that he’d won an argument wasn’t what David thought about as he was falling asleep, and it wasn’t what he hoped would happen again. It was Jack’s arm around his shoulder.


End file.
